Living Just For Kicks
by allonsysilvertongue
Summary: Three times Peter felt Tony was embarrassing him and the one time Peter turned the table
1. Chapter 1

_i._ _Part 1_

Peter Parker had never liked being the center of attention and most of the time, he avoided it well. But not today – today he was the most valuable player, the man of the match so to speak.

He smiled and ducked his head, uncomfortable by all the attention as every now and again, one of this team mates would go up to him to congratulate him. MJ was amongst them, coming over to him, a rare smile on her lips that lighted up her face, and punched him on the arm with a sarcastic variation of _'good job, Parker, knew you were good for something.'_

Truthfully, as much as it made him feel a little awkward, he was feeling high from their team's win and knowing that _he_ had contributed to it…. _He_ had answered that last deciding question and snatched the glory for their school… He felt proud.

Even Flash's insult sailed over his head today. He wouldn't let it affect him.

"Enjoy it while it last," the boy sneered.

"Come on," Ned nudged his best friend and Peter easily fell in step next to him. "He's just jealous."

Ned was beyond ecstatic, it was plain to see. They were already planning to celebrate their team's win with a Star Wars marathon until someone caught wind of their plans and suggested a team dinner – burgers and shakes nearby – which meant Peter would have to deal with Flash a little longer.

"On the bright side, no more practices," Ned exclaimed, trying to inject some positivity into it. "And what's a few more minutes of Flash, right? He can't get you kicked out of the team now, not when you've won us this. We'll deal with him for now."

"It's a team effort, Ned," Peter shook his head, knowing it was useless to tamper Ned's spirits when he was this happy.

"Mr. Parker," a smooth, _familiar_ , voice called out.

Peter froze; his entire body went rigid.

 _Oh no,_ he thought. There was a reason Happy was always parked at a quiet lane, a block away whenever he had to give Peter a lift to Tony's apartment after school. It was to prevent unwanted attention but this right now…. Peter briefly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to ready himself before he had to face the man.

"Oh my god," Ned gasped loudly ensuring that everyone's attention was now focused on the visitor. He nudged Peter hard on his ribs and Peter scowled, rubbing his sides tenderly. "It's Mr. Stark. Dude, he's here in our school. Oh my god."

"Ted," Tony acknowledged and Peter thought Ned would die right there.

"It's Ned," Peter corrected his mentor.

"So, saw the whole thing. You are the man of the hour," Tony smirked, sauntering down the hall towards the group of teenagers until he was standing directly in front of Peter. "My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail so I'm going to overlook that. Unless, of course, you didn't invite me in which case, I'm offended."

"I – Uh – There was only one ticket and – and extra tickets have to be purchased and I didn't know if you'd be interested so…" he shrugged helplessly.

"Again with the offending me, kid," Tony shook his head. "Why wouldn't I be? Interested that is…"

Peter was quite aware that his teammates were watching this with interest, even MJ who was frowning as she watched this exchange unfold before her.

"Sorry," Peter stammered in shock. "Uh – What are you doing here – I mean, how did you find out?"

"I _am_ Tony Stark," he reminded the kid, as if that was all the explanation needed. "I had to make sure my intern's time away from Stark Industries was being used wisely."

Peter blinked.

"Now that you've won your team this competition, perhaps it's time you start putting in the hours at Stark Industries…. Lots of things to do…"

Ned glanced over at him, at a loss. Peter had, on his own accord, limited his Spider-Man activities to three times a week once they got through into the finals and he had skipped on suit upgrades with Mr. Stark twice. He didn't think his suit was in dire need for an upgrade or bugs fixes at that very moment anyway.

May and Ms. Potts, along with Mr. Stark, had been quite proud of him for putting school first although now it would seem that Mr. Stark might not have felt the same. Unless… he missed having him around? _It couldn't be,_ Peter squashed the thought away. That was just wishful thinking.

"Mr. Parker's been missing internship," Tony addressed the rest of Peter's team mates. He looked serious, as if he was personally holding them responsible for this, but Peter would like to think that he knew his mentor well enough by now to know that he was enjoying more than he let on. "Or when he does turn up, he's spending all that time practicing for this competition. Admirable really, his aunt would be very proud."

"Mr. Stark," Peter groaned, exasperated.

Tony's smirk only deepened and Peter knew then that he was enjoying himself. "Let's see it – cough it up," Tony gestured.

Peter cleared his throat as Tony waited. Knowing it was something he couldn't escaped, Peter slowly pulled the medal and trophy out from his bag.

"Good job, kid," Tony clasped his shoulder when he was done inspecting it. "Hey, ice cream? To celebrate. Chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, right?"

Behind him, he heard MJ snickered and Peter turned a shade darker.

"You don't have any plans, do you?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Actually, Ned and I were going to watch a movie and the team was thinking of – "

"No plans, sir," Ned interrupted. "We're just going to have a Star Wars Marathon again. We can do it this weekend – no problem."

"Ned," Peter shot him a look.

His best friend had the grace to look chastised but he lowered his voice and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "It's Tony Stark – you can't blow him off."

Peter sighed.

"Is Happy here?"

"Nope, just me," Tony grinned. "Now kids, don't mind if I whisk the star of the hour away from this place. It's giving me flashback to my brief time in high school and all the boring atrocities linked to it. So toodles, and congratulations on the win!"

With that, he put his arm around Peter's shoulder and steered him down the hallway out of the building towards where his Audi was parked.

 _Not lowkey at all_ , Peter thought, taking in the sight of the flashy car double parked at the school entrance.

"What was that?" Peter asked once he was strapped in his seat and Tony was zooming out of the parking lot of his school.

"You like the surprise?"

"Can't say I like surprises but – "

"Are you embarrassed that I popped by?"

"No, Mr. Stark, of course not," Peter hurried to assure him. "And I'm sorry about missing internship – "

The older man threw him an incredulous look since there wasn't an internship in the first place. Peter spent his time tinkering old Spider-Man suits in Mr. Stark's workshop while Mr. Stark worked on upgrades and getting feedbacks on areas of improvement for his suits.

It was their time and Peter enjoyed it a lot. He liked watching Mr. Stark work, found his thought process fascinating, was always in awe by the ideas that came out from him and most of all, Peter felt valued when Mr. Stark asked for his opinion and listened to them.

Except, for the past three weeks, Peter's work on his old suit was put on hold in favour of practicing and reading up on study materials for the competition, and now that it was all over, Peter was only starting to realise how much he missed their time together in the workshop.

"Hey, none of that," Tony stopped him. "You did well, kid. I'm proud of you. Really. You were responsible and you focused on school once you realise what this meant to the school and that's something that I'm proud of. It's not something you should apologise for. May and I had a deal, remember? You can be Spider-Man if you can balance your responsibility as a student and still enjoy yourself being a kid and all."

It had been a long conversation between May and Mr. Stark in an attempt, post The Snap, to ensure that Peter get to still grow up with friends and graduate while still doing something that was now a part of his DNA.

"You think I balanced it?"

"Sure did. You proved it," Tony nodded. "We're going to frame that medal up in the workshop. Your hot Aunt May will have the trophy for your apartment in Queens. The medal, we'll put it up at the Compound."

Despite the comment on his aunt, Peter smiled. He couldn't stop smiling since they won but hearing this from a man he looked up to made him smile harder.

"Sure, Mr. Stark," he grinned.

Who said you couldn't have two homes?

* * *

 _I know it's been done a few times but I love all the 5+1 trope or its variation of it so mine is 3+1. All the chapter's been written so updates should be quite fast. Let me know what you guys think of this!_


	2. Chapter 2

_ii._

Putting on his sunglasses, Tony stepped out of his car and made his way up the steps into the main hallway. This might only be his second visit to Midtown Science but he had hacked into the school's system enough time – once when he suspected that there was more to the story when Peter turned up at his workshop with the front of his shirt soaking wet than the kid wanted to let on – that Tony could actually easily find his way to the hall.

The place was buzzing with activities, students milling about and teachers making cursory fleeting visits from one exhibition to the next. A huge banner had been hung, proudly proclaiming the school's annual science fair.

He scanned the room before he finally found the boys he was looking for at the very back of the hall.

"Not a very strategic place if you want to be noticed," Tony remarked once he was near enough for the boys to hear.

Ned's head snapped up at the sound of his voice before his expression turned miserable.

"Flash was part of the organizing team and _he_ assigned us this booth," the boy complained. "May wasn't very thrilled when she dropped by earlier either."

"Want me to talk to someone? Get you moved?"

"It's fine, Mr. Stark," Peter shook his head. "People's been coming and word's got around that our exhibition is here so I think we're alright."

Tony peered at the kid, eyebrow raised.

"Really, it's fine. Nothing to be concerned about," Peter stressed and promptly changed the subject. "Hey, I'm glad you're here. I – I know you're busy so May said I shouldn't get my hopes up and yeah, so I wasn't really sure if you were coming but – "

"Kid, when you told me about it, I made Pepper clear my schedule," Tony told him. "I wouldn't miss this, okay? Mistakes have been made and you've learnt from them – you know what happens when you don't tell me things and I show up unannounced. So this is good. This is great – you tell me about school events and I turn up because you want me to be here."

Tony watched the kid chuckle nervously, the memory of his previous visit to the school still etched on Peter's mind. Peter had told him how his teammates had wanted to know everything – from where they had ice cream to the flavor of ice cream Tony Stark had or if Peter had really gotten into trouble for missing his 'internship'. Tony found it a little creepy but he was used to having people wanting to know every single detail from his life.

"Show me your project," Tony gestured.

Peter had told him bits and pieces, something about clean water, whenever he dropped by the apartment to work at the workshop but he had never shown Tony the final product or go into specific details, and frankly, Tony found himself rather intrigued. He knew the boy was smart, smarter than most kids he had ever come across, not that there had been many, and Tony was curious to know what the kid's mind came up with for the science fair.

"Show him, Peter," Ned bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet.

Tony followed the kid, listening as Peter finally explained to him. His gaze flitted occasionally from the tech on the table to the kid talking a mile a minute, sometimes stumbling over his word in his excitement to show off his work to his mentor.

"This is impressive," Tony commented.

He went round the booth, inspecting the boys' science project, taking his time to read labels all around the table that they had put up to make their work easier to understand.

Ned gaped at the compliment.

"Oh my god," Ned let out a breath. "Tony Stark likes our project."

"Breathe," Tony chuckled.

Honestly, the boy had met him several times after the decathlon championship and yet, he still acted as if he was in awe of every word that left Tony's mouth. In a way, he reminded Tony a little of Peter, wide-eye and full of wonderment. The two best friends were made for each – there was a bit of Ned in Peter and a little of Peter in Ned – and they kept each other in check. They reminded Tony of his friendship with Rhodey sometimes.

"So this robot," Tony touched the top of its square head, "will assess the purity of any body of water and – "

"Clean any impurities, Mr. Stark, making it safe for drinking," Peter said, watching Tony closely. "We – We had you as an inspiration."

Ned nodded.

"You inspired us with your – your investment for clean energy. But I – I don't want you to think we stole your idea, Mr. Stark. So we thought that we'd focus on just water specifically, you know? For – For countries where clean drink water is not accessible…"

"Calm down, underoos," Tony chuckled. "No such thoughts crossed my mind."

Peter nodded, relief flooding his face as the tension left his body.

"This tech of yours has to remain affordable," Tony raised his head to look at his young protégé. "If those people can't afford clean drinking water, then it follows that they can't afford this tech which would make it pointless. Unless it's marketed to their government organisations," Tony said out loud. "That's something you got to think about."

Tony saw the look Ned and Peter gave each other, the slight crease on Peter's eyebrow.

"We haven't really – We haven't thought that far yet, Mr. Stark. We just wanted to make this work first."

"Understandable and you did which is good because here he comes -" Tony grinned.

He waved to someone behind him, someone the boys had not spotted yet because they didn't know to expect or look out for him.

The man weaved through the crowd to get to Tony. His hair was greying on the edges, his glasses sat perched on top of his head and there was a lanyard hanging from his neck that he had forgotten to remove.

"Thanks for coming, Erik," Tony greeted, shaking the man's hand. "This is the kid I was telling you about – Peter Parker, nerd."

Peter's eyes widened when he heard Tony referred to him as such to a man he didn't even know. A blush tinged his cheeks, the embarrassment winning over the annoyance simmering below.

"Take a look at what he's got," Tony gestured towards the table.

"Mr. Parker, pleasure to meet you at last," the man extended his hand. Peter stared, a little confused before a subtle nudge from Tony had him move automatically and he shook the proffered hand. "Erik Shine."

"Mr. Shine, hi," Peter replied. "Mr. Stark didn't mention that anyone was coming and I – uh – I don't mean to be rude or anything, sir, but I – we don't know who you are."

Behind the kid, his best friend nodded.

The man laughed, saying, "I'm not surprised Tony failed to mention anything. That's his style, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Peter agreed.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, kid," Tony pretended to be offended. "This is Erik Shine, senior lecturer and senior research engineer at the Civil and Environment Engineering Department of MIT," Tony said, looking rather proud. "It just so happened that the topic of clean water came up and I invited him to come take a look – Erik's very invested in the environment and how to improve it. You don't mind, do you?"

The moment Peter had mentioned clean water, Tony had thought of Erik and his work with the environment. So Tony had personally placed the call to school. He wanted to give the kid as much exposure as he could and if that exposure led him to a spot in MIT, then why the hell not?

"Oh my god, dude," Ned gasped. "Wow."

Peter sputtered once he processed who the man was. "Wha – That's insane. I mean, that's super cool. M – MIT, Mr. Stark? Did you say that? _The_ MIT?"

"I believe there's only one."

Tony rolled his eyes but his hand found the back of the kid's neck, squeezing it gently. He was fond of this kid and all of his nervous rambling.

"But Mr. Stark," he turned his body slightly away from Erik so he could look at Tony. There was real concern in his brown eyes and for a wild moment, Tony thought the excitement and the surprise was going to be too much for the kid to handle. He should have listened when Peter said he didn't like surprises. "Oh my god. I – I don't get me wrong, Mr. Stark, this is really cool what you did for us but this is just a science fair," Peter whispered, frantic. Beads of perspiration had begun to form. "A high school science fair in Queens. It's not like Stark Expo or anything big like that, our science fair is so -."

"Never too early to start planning, Pete," Tony clasped his shoulder before the kid could put himself down even further. "Called a favour in when you came to me asking for spare parts. They might offer you a scholarship when the time comes – this is good, okay? This is good, Peter."

It was the rare use of Peter's name that made the kid's gaze shot up to Tony and for him to try and get himself under control.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "Yeah. It's just …What if he thinks it's a dumb idea?"

"I wouldn't have called him in if I didn't think yours and Ned's idea and project was worth –"

"It's going to be so embarrassing. My presentation is so mediocre. If – If I knew you were going to ask someone to come and see it, I'd… Ned and I would have done a better presentation or something, you know," he rubbed his hands anxiously, and then with a nervous laugh, he said, "And I'm just a kid from Queens who build that with spare parts I got from you and the dumpster on the streets. It's not high tech and – and it's gonna be embarrassing for you too, cause like you called him here and all. You've got a reputation. I – I don't get why'd you do this, Mr. Stark."

Tony wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose because he was exasperated. When will this kid realise? Instead, he reigned in his impatience. He wouldn't behave the way Howard did with him.

"Because I can and I want to, and because I believe in you," Tony had both hands on Peter's arms, shaking him a little. "You need to understand that. Alright, kid? I believe in you and your work, and I didn't ask Erik to come in to embarrass you. That's the last thing I want. Okay?"

"Okay."

"If you feel embarrassed – "

"No, no," Peter shook his head hurriedly. "That's just me. It's nothing to do with you. Sometimes I – "

Tony watched the kid gestured helplessly, trying to put his self-doubt into words.

"I understand. But you need to believe in yourself, kid, 'cause you're smart and you've got a good head on your shoulders."

"I'll try."

"And hey, never worry about me or my reputation. Reputation come and go, I wouldn't worry about it," Tony said. "He's here now so what are you going to do about it, Pete? Let it pass or seize the day?"

"Seize the day," Peter answered with a determination that made Tony stand up a little straighter.

"Then quit standing here and talking to me," Tony said in exasperation. He gave the kid a gentle push, "talk to them man. Explain your ideas, present your project and answer any questions he might have cause there will be questions."

"Okay, Mr. Stark," he nodded, trotting off before dashing back. "Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. Thank you!"

* * *

 _Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you'll enjoy this second part as well :) i look forward to reading your reviews/feedback, it'll make my day_


	3. Chapter 3

_iii._

The party was in full swing. Some of the guests were familiar to Peter, lab technicians and scientists that Peter had come across sometimes at the Compound when he was allowed to work with Dr. Banner in his lab. Others, not so much and he assumed the group of women and men Ms. Potts were talking to was probably people from Stark Industries.

Happy was standing by the window talking to Natasha Romanoff, his hand gesturing wildly. He thought about going over to say hello but they seemed to be deep in conversation that he didn't feel right interrupting. He searched for Mr. Stark in the crowd but couldn't spot the man.

The nervousness that had been lingering for days prior to the party returned in full swing. He was seriously considering bailing out, no one had spotted him yet and if Mr. Stark asked about his absence he figured he would just think of something.

Except, May had encouraged him to attend, and while May hardly ever agreed with Tony, she actually did on this one rare occasion. She had acknowledged that Tony was right and that it was important to build connections. Peter could only look at her in absolute betrayal and May had laughed at his expression, ruffled his hair before pulling him into a hug.

"Just for a little while – an hour or so, okay?" May had said. "Then I'll give you permission to come up with some bogus emergency and I'll pick you up."

"Mr. Stark would probably have Happy send me home. And then Happy will know there's no emergency, he'll tell on me to Mr. Stark," Peter had replied miserably.

Peter sighed. It had only been five minutes since May dropped him off which meant he can't call on her yet. It wasn't fair either for her. Today was their night out and after dropping Peter off she had plans to catch a movie with some girlfriends. It wouldn't be right for Peter to rob off her night when it was difficult to come by for her just because he was anxious, so Peter stepped into the party.

Thankfully for him, Ms. Potts had seen him lingering awkwardly and promptly approached him. There was something about her mannerism that quickly put Peter at ease. It was her voice, the way she gently led him to the food spread and the way she introduced him to those who came by to talk to her without making him feel as if he was intruding that made Peter easily smile and nod his head to whoever addressed him. He felt safe to wade through all these awkward social interactions with her next to him.

"Where is Mr. Stark?"

"You know how he is," Pepper shook his head. "He's probably out there getting ready for a party trick."

"I'm going to get more cake," Peter told her, moving towards the dessert section. "Would you like any? I could get it for you."

So far, that was his favourite section. He would likely regret all the sugar later at night but there was no one here to monitor him. Better dessert than alcohol, he thought, which he had been banned from and Peter wasn't stupid enough to incur _both_ May's and Mr. Stark's ire by drinking.

Peter checked his watch as he popped the red macaroon into his mouth, surprised to see that an hour had gone by. Next, he checked his phone and sure enough there was a message from May. He fired up a quick reply assuring her that everything was alright and he didn't need her to rescue him just yet.

"Young Peter," a strong hand slapped his shoulder and Peter stumbled slightly. He turned to see the God of Thunder grinning down at him. When he spoke next, he lowered his voice in a conspiratorial whisper, "the little spider."

Peter had only met Thor once, in the aftermath of The Snap, after they were all resurrected so to speak. It had been chaotic and blurry, and Peter had been exhausted. He had seen Thor parting mortals in his bid to get to his adopted brother, pulling him towards the rest of the group. At that time, Peter was leaning heavily against Mr. Stark and was vaguely aware of Thor's offhand, "I see you got your son back, Stark." Mr. Stark's answer had been something Peter still dreamt about because he wasn't sure if the man had really said "I did" or if Peter had imagined the entire thing.

"God Thor," Peter stammered before nearly kicking himself because that sounded foolish to his own ear. "Mr. Thor," he amended. "Hi! It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Peter."

"I am just Thor," he said good-naturedly. "Stark told me all about you."

As if summoned by the mere mention of his name, the man himself approached them, swirling a wine glass in hand.

"That I did."

"You are a delight, man of spider. All the stories I have been regaled with about you has always put me in a pleasant mood."

Peter's eyebrows shot up at that strange remark.

"And I _must_ have this technology you created to purify water. You would be horrified by the state of drinking water in some of the planets. It is disturbing. Tell me, where can I procure one?"

"I – I'd have to make one for you."

"Excellent. Never change, Young Peter."

"W – What sort of stories have you heard of me?"

He was curious. What could Mr. Stark possibly talk about him to the other Avengers?

"There was this one," Thor's eyes gleamed in delight, "I heard of you walking into a wall that one time when you met a fellow spider. You must have been quite smitten!"

It took Peter's brain a while to catch up and then he suddenly recalled the incident when Tony showed him around the Compound. They had passed by the Avengers Training Room and there, he saw Black Widow sparring with Scarlet Witch. He could believe that he was there witnessing that scene with his own two eyes or that Natasha Romanoff was right in front of him. She was one of the coolest and Peter had always joked with Ned about his spider DNA making him some sort of kin to Black Widow. He had thought about how jealous and excited Ned would be if he was here and he had slammed cheek first into a wall.

That had been the most singular, embarrassing moment in his life and now, to know that Mr. Stark had told Thor about it and it being one of the first thing to come to Thor's mind upon meeting Peter…. He wanted to disappear. He wanted to shoot a web at the ceiling and crawl away unnoticed.

"You look like a tomato, kid," Tony chuckled, putting his arm around him.

"There are things I'd rather forget and this is one of them," Peter muttered. "Just like I'm sure you'd rather forget about your brother Loki scaring you as a snake… or something like that."

Next to him, Mr. Stark perked up suddenly. His eyes darted from Peter to Thor in obvious interests. "What's this about?"

Peter's head snapped up, and then his eyes widened in horror. He covered his mouth with a hand, staring at Thor.

"Oh god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – I, uh, Dr. Banner told me about it once and I - I really didn't mean to, Mr. Thor," Peter stuttered.

He would rather not have a God be mad at him.

"I didn't mean to offend your guest, Mr. Stark," he looked to his mentor.

When Thor laughed, the sound booming loudly and catching the attention of several other guests, Peter's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"It was a good story," Thor said. "Has Banner never told you, Stark? I'm surprised."

"Guess he liked the kid more than me," he shrugged. "Oh, underoos, I thought you should know that Steve and Clint knows about your little wall incident, too."

"What?" Peter exclaimed, horrified and in exasperation. "You have to stop telling that story about me to everyone you meet, Mr. Stark."

"Not everyone – just the team. And besides, I tried," Tony chuckled, "but you kept giving me more material. You know I can't keep these things to myself, kid. Those links with Cap's school PSA was gold by the way. Great work, kid."

"You are such a child," Peter muttered.

"Heard that," Tony retorted. "But hey, Rhodey asked for the video capture of that incident. I made sure it's secure in F.R.I.D.A.Y's database so give me some credit, kiddo."

"W – What!?" Peter covered his face. "There's a _video_."

"Of course there is, you're in one of the most secure building on earth," Tony huffed, a little offended that Peter was ever surprised. "It's for when I need a laugh. Had it on a loop a few days back," Tony said. His arm was still around Peter's shoulder and he steered the kid towards where Natasha was now sitting with Wanda. Thor followed behind them. "None of them have seen it. Not even Nat and Wanda. See, I can be trusted, right?"

"Please don't ever show them," Peter told him.

* * *

 _I hope you like it!_


	4. Chapter 4

_iv_.

Peter had prepared a toast.

He had spent agonizing hours, days and _weeks_ over it.

It was after all one of the biggest, if not _the_ most important event in Mr. Stark's life and he had chosen Peter to be by his side. To say Peter was honoured beyond belief was an understatement. He had been shell-shocked, rooted to the spot as he stared at Mr. Stark wondering if he had misheard until the man peered at him worriedly and shook him a little before he stammered out a response.

He, Peter Benjamin Parker, was Tony Stark's best man.

Sure, Mr. Stark had gone a little overboard, like he was prone to do, and also appointed Happy as well as Rhodey, but the point was, he was one of Mr. Stark's best men which meant that he had to give a speech.

And Peter wanted it to be perfect.

He wanted the whole wedding ceremony to be perfect for Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark.

But as he stood there with a glass of champagne in hand – May and Mr Stark had allowed him a free pass for this occasion - with his scholarship and MIT acceptance letter (Mr. Stark still had _no_ idea) resting snugly in his jacket pocket, and seeing Mr. Stark looking at him expectantly with that glimmer in his eyes, Peter decided to discard his speech.

Glancing around the room, at these people, all these guests, who had no idea the journey they had taken, the things they went through together and the things they shared, the nightmares that Mr. Stark talked him through when May couldn't reach to him, the career fairs he attended with Peter to help him narrow his field of interest, the room at his penthouse apartment that he gave to Peter so he could crash in if he chose to on nights that May was on shift.

He had lost so many people – his parents and Ben – but he had also gained a family. He had made space in his heart for Mr. Stark and then Ms. Potts, and Happy too. Together with May, all these people made for an odd combination but they worked. They worked and Peter was _happy._

"I've always wondered what it'll take for you to be quiet. I didn't think asking you to make a speech was one of those," Mr. Stark remarked airily.

Peter blinked and cleared his throat, chuckling nervously.

"Sorry, sorry, I – uh – was trying to recall," he made a circular motion with his finger. "Right so I – I prepared a speech," he raised his piece of paper, crumpled from the countless times he stood in front of the mirror, practicing. Then he tossed it behind him, "It feels too scripted now."

"Oh, boy," Tony said. "This is going to be interesting."

Next to him, Pepper swatted his arm, shooting him a look of warning.

Peter ignored the man. He licked his lips, took a deep breath to steady his nerves and then he started speaking.

"Mr. Stark is…. He's many things…"

"Mr. _Stark_ has been asking you to call him _Tony_ ," the older man's voice rose above Peter, garnering laughter from the guests.

"Right, yes, he did but it's – it's difficult to roll off my tongue. Sorry," he gave him an apologetic look. "Habit… Is it – Is it okay if you let me speak? Maybe stop interrupting my speech….?"

Again, the guests laughed and it surprised him that he was able to do that. Mr. Stark raised both hands in a peaceful gesture before bringing an arm around Ms. Potts, waiting for Peter to resume.

"When Mr. Stark first found me," Peter started again, "I was just a fifteen year old kid from Queens. Now, I have just graduated high school – a graduation that Mr. Stark attended, sending half of my classmates into cardiac arrest from the excitement alone – and I am about… to start on something new."

Mr. Stark's eyes widened and he opened his mouth as if to ask a question before Ms. Potts elbowed him with a smile fixed firmly on her face.

"I'm – uh – I'm glad that we are both starting it _together_. It's like a new life for us. Sorry, that didn't come out right, I meant, a new chapter," he rubbed his sweaty palm on the side of his thigh. "A new chapter in our lives. Sorta. God, I'm sorry, I'm not very eloquent," Peter laughed anxiously, "guess that's still something Mr. Stark hasn't managed to impart on me _yet._ "

That comment made Ms. Potts – _Mrs. Stark,_ Peter corrected himself mentally – laugh and it was such a delightful sound. It made Peter smile.

"Mr. Stark has gone from that man that the ten year old Peter Parker only thought was super cool and super awesome to someone who has constantly encouraged me, has made me toed the line and has always watched out for me. Sometimes his methods are unorthodox and it's made me frustrated at times but at the end of the day, I know he has my back. We all need … We all need someone like that in our life – someone to support us, to look out for us – and Ms. Potts is that person in his life. I'm – I'm very happy for them. What's important for me is that I'm _so_ glad we got to this day."

At the confused look of the guests and Mr. Stark himself, Peter explained, "I thought we will never get here before the next alien invasion but we did! They're like married now which is cool. That's awesome, dude," he said knowing full well Mr. Stark's aversion to being call a 'dude' and he raised his hand to high five his mentor but since it wasn't reciprocated he let his hand fall back to his side.

In front of him, Mr. Stark was shaking his head.

"Mr. Stark," Peter looked at him, his voice taking on a serious tone now. "I've never really thank you, you know, for all you've done for me so _thank you_. You were there for me so I actually just wanna say that I'll be here, too. When you have a kid with Ms. Potts and you got to learn to change the diapers and all that… I'll be here and we can like watch Youtube videos on how to get that done, you know?" He grinned. "Maybe… do a tutorial for newbie dads? Have a vlog channel – _Tony Stark; A Dad Adventure._ "

"God, you're embarrassing me, kid," he muttered.

It made May reach across the table to pat Tony's hand comfortingly.

"He can go on," she whispered. "You better put a stop to it."

"Happy and I are sort of excited to see you in that new dad capacity, we thought we'd write a book on it. We'll call it The Tony Stark _Training Wheels Protocol,_ " Peter paused, waited for a beat and nearly laughed at the way Mr. Stark glared at him. It was something only they both understood and in that moment, it truly felt as if Peter and Mr. Stark shared something that no one else in this room did. "Get it? Cause you'll technically be dad in training."

"Thought that was what I was doing with you," Mr. Stark muttered so low under his breath that Peter nearly didn't catch it if it wasn't for his enhanced hearing.

He fumbled; suddenly losing his train of thought, trying to get his bearing, trying to remember what it was he had said last.

"I mean, of course, no pressure Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark. It's just – my imagination, you know, it – it moves so fast so I'm like three steps ahead. I know you guys just got married and all and like there's family planning those kind of – "

"Okay," Mr. Stark rose from his seat, side stepped his chair to make it round the table towards Peter. "Great speech. Thank you, kid. Round of applause for him. Thank you," he said, putting an arm around Peter.

"Congratulations, Tony," Peter smiled so wide his cheek was hurting. "Good luck with him, Pepper."

* * *

 _I kind of imagine Peter just discarding his speech the way Tony did in IM 1 - team "we're winging it". So, that's it! The end of this 3 + 1! I hope you've enjoyed the read and thank you for reading what I wrote. Thanks for leaving reviews as well! If you can leave a review or two for this last chapter, I'll be so thrilled :)_

 _If you want to have anything written for a 3 + 1 or a 5 + 1 let me know too and I'll try write it. I had so so much fun writing Living Just for Kicks!_


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